In lieu of certain events in my life and in the media recently, I have been haunted by the notion of personal responsibility or liability. It just seems to me that no matter what goes on in the world or right next to us, we tend to blame anything that goes wrong on the next guy. It's like passing a moral buck, or at least something to that effect.
For example,
I work for a company that thrives on passing the buck. I'm a manager, and when something comes up that I'm not quite sure of, I ask. Now once I ask, that's it. I never get a response and then get chastised months later because I did something wrong. It seems ILLOGICal (sorry for the plug) So maybe it's an issue of common sense. Maybe a little of both.
On a grander level, I heard a story outta NY a few days ago. I don't know the specifics or how old it is, if any OKP does, let us know. Anyway this woman and her child were living with her boyfriend. Protective Services were called in, 'cause the boyfriend was beating on the kid. The mother may have been guilty as well. Anyway, to avoid jail time, they agreed to go to parenting/sensitivity classes. The night after this was agreed upon, the boyfriend beat the child to death. Now the mother and her family said it was NYC's fault and is suing the city for a ridiculous sum of money. Now answer me this. How is it the city's fault???? Not the parent's? the boyfriend's?
Also, in my home town, Philly, the recent news of the controversial arrest tactics......
Check the threads "City of Brotherly Love" and "Police Brutality Caught on Tape" for opions, reactions, and some specifics. Now some people, OKP's included, have stated that the police have a responsibiliy to being professional. I agree, but what about the accused? Does a person or suspected criminal have the right to just do what they want without fear of retribution? And if they are caught doing something, be able to criticize the next man, in this case the police, for doing what is EXPECTED.
Look, there are expectations and limitations set on us every day by ourselves and others. But it's beginning to seem to me, that we as a community, nation, world, don't really keep ourselves in check. We don't fear repercussions. It's as if we can manage to avoid the guilt and reactions because we can simply pass the buck.

Is anyone feeling me on this? If so, what do you think the problem is?